Three years
by ZIAluvsTV09
Summary: Three years. That was how long ago she left him. When she came back, he wasn't very happy with what she brought with her.
1. Chapter 1

Three years. That was how long it had been since Natalia Boa Vista had left the Miami-Dade Crime Lab and moved to Sacramento. She had left everything behind, including the one man who loved her unconditionally.

Eric Delko still hadn't gotten over the fact that the love of his life left him. And for what, he didn't know. She had simply written him a letter telling him to stay away, and that she would always love him. He couldn't believe that she wasn't coming back. Everyday he sat in the lab and watched for her to come running out of the elevator and into his arms. Her beautiful, golden brown hair and light brown eyes that he missed so much.

It had been about four months after their pregnancy scare that she had left. After discovering that they weren't going to be parents, Eric had hoped that they might be able to work something out. It hadn't.

And now, three years after Natalia Boa Vista had left him, Eric sat in the trace lab trying to identify a particle he had found on the victim's clothing when his beeper went off. It was Horatio. Eric pulled out his cell phone and called him.

"Horatio." Was the reply Eric received.

"Hey, you beeped?" Eric said.

"Yes, Mr. Delko, please meet me and the other CSI's in the conference room ASAP." Eric's boss told him.

"All right, H." he said, then hung up.

As Eric got closer to the conference room, he sniffed the air. There was a familiar smell in the air. It was of lavender and lilies. Eric wondered to himself why that smell was so familiar. When he opened the door, he knew why he smelled such a familiar scent.

There, in the flesh and bone, was Miss Natalia Boa Vista. Eric thought he might suffocate. He hadn't seen her face for three whole years. Seeing her now made his heart work overtime.

"Hey, Eric." She said, smiling.

"H-hey, Natalia." He stuttered, as he sat down on the opposite end of the table.

"Ok everyone, you all remember Miss Boa Vista. She's decided to come back and work for us." Horatio said. Eric was even more surprised. "And I'm sure that you'll all help her get used to working here again, am I correct?" Ryan, Calliegh, Valera and Alexx nodded. "Then everyone get back to work." He said.

Eric walked out of the conference room and almost got ran over by a little girl and boy.

"Whoa, be careful there, sweetie…" but when Eric Delko looked at the little children, his heart stopped. Standing right there in front of him was a young girl and boy about three or four years old who had dark brown hair and light brown eyes. When they smiled at him, Eric's stopped heart began to melt. There was something about these children. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he just knew that she was something special. When they squealed, he knew why.

"Mommy!"

Eric watched as the little kids ran straight for Natalia. At first Eric was simply astonished that Natalia had a child, let alone two. But then he understood.

They were about three or four years old. Natalia had only left three years ago. Unless she met a guy straight away in Sacramento, and if Eric's mind wasn't playing tricks on him, these were his children. Evidentially, Eric wasn't the only one to notice. Soon, the entire CSI team was watching the little children.

"Emma, Tony." Natalia said nervously. She had noticed that everyone was watching her. "I thought I told you to wait for mommy in the break room."

"But mommy, we were bored. We wanted to see you. You said we could see daddy." The little boy said.

Everyone froze at those last six words the young boy said. Eric started getting angry. Those children were most definitely his children, and he wanted answers. As Natalia shooed her children into the break room, Eric began walking briskly after her.

"Natalia!" He yelled. She froze. "Natalia, I only have one question for you." He said.

"What's that?" she said coldly, turning around to face him.

"Are they mine?" he asked her, moving so he was only inches from her face.

"What?" she yelled.

"Those children. Are. They. Mine." He repeated, pointing into the break room where the kids were currently coloring.

"What do you think, Eric? Do you think I got over you within a week? Eric, they'll be three in five months. Do the math." Natalia told him, then stormed off into the break room. She then gathered her kids. As she walked past him in the hall, she said, "Biologically, they're yours. Legally, they're yours. However, it'll take a while for them to get used to you. See you tomorrow." Then she got into the elevator.

Eric couldn't believe it. He had children. Twins. A little boy and girl. Even more, Natalia had kept them from him for almost three years. One thing was for sure, he was going to be involved in his children's lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Natalia was getting settled into their new house when the phone rang.

"Boa Vist…I mean, hello?"

"Natalia, darling, you look so beautiful right now." Came a deep man's voice.

"Nathan, stop calling me!" she screamed into the phone, locking the front door.

"But my dear, I miss my little children."

"They're not yours, Nathan. Eric Delko is their father!" she yelled, and then hung up on him. All of a sudden the doorbell rang. Emilia and Antonio ran to answer the door. "Emma, Tony, I'll get it. Go play in the living room." She told them. She had an idea who it was, so she grabbed her gun. She slowly unlocked the door, and when she threw it open and held up her gun, she was surprised. "Eric?"

"Jeez, Natalia. What did I do to get a gun drawn on me?" he said smiling. In his hands were two little matching teddy bears. Natalia looked at him with a confused look on her face. "Oh, um…these are for the kids." He told her nervously.

"Oh." She replied. "Emma, Tony, you have a visitor." She yelled into the house. She then stepped back to invite Eric into her home.

"Thank you." He said as he entered the ocean-side house. As if he was reading her mind, he said, "I got your new address from Horatio, Natalia." They both heard two little pitter-patters and were then greeted by two little kids.

"Is those for us?" Emma asked Eric.

"They sure are." He told her as he squatted and gave the kids their new teddy bears. "What are you going to name them?" he asked them as they inspected their new toy.

"Teddy!" they both squealed at the same time.

"Good name." Eric said, laughing. "Speaking of names…I'm Eric." He said, holding out his hand so they could shake it. "What are your names?" they kids looked at Natalia for confirmation, and Natalia nodded.

"My name is Antonio Rico Delko." Said the little boy.

"And what is your name?" Eric asked the young girl.

"Emilia Marisol Delko." She said shyly. Eric looked at Natalia and stood up.

"You gave them my last name? And Marisol as her middle name?" he said, his voice starting to crack at the memory of his sister.

"Yes, Eric. They are your children. Should we tell them now?" she asked him, looking where the children were now playing with their new 'teddy's.

"Why not?" he said.

"Ok." She then picked up Emma and Tony, surprising Eric at her strength, and sitting them down on the counter in the kitchen. "Emilia, Antonio. I need you to pay attention." She told them. They both nodded. "This," she said, gesturing towards Eric, "Is your daddy."

"Really?" yelled Tony excitedly.

"Really." Eric said as he moved closer to his children.

"Tony! We've got a daddy!" Emma squealed as she lunged onto Eric, almost sending both of them to the floor.

Then the phone rang. Natalia took the phone that was sitting on the counter next to Tony and went into the hall.

"Hello?"

"Natalia, who is that in your house with our children?"

"Nathan, I swear. You come within one hundred feet of this house, I'll kill you."

"Too late." He said as he hung up. Natalia then screamed and dropped the phone. Eric, hearing her yell, ran into the hallway and found her sitting on the floor sobbing.

"Natalia!" he yelled. Emma and Tony were not far behind.

"Eric, he's coming for them. He trying to take my babies." She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Who, Natalia?" he asked her. "Who is trying to take them?" he started to rub her back, and within a minute she was calmed down.

"Eric, the reason that I came back from California was because I had a stalker. He always called me and told me that he was watching. He sent me pictures of us when we were _in our house_ in the mail. He told me that Emma and Tony were his children. I kept telling him that they were yours, not his, but he wouldn't listen. So I moved back here. Then right before you got here, he called again and told me that he could see me. I didn't believe him but then he just called again, asking who you were and why you were playing with _his_ children. Eric, he said he was within one hundred feet of the house!" she screamed, pulling Emma and Tony towards her and hugging them.

Now Natalia had seen Eric Delko angry before, but she had never seen him like this. He stood up and unholstered his gun and went outside. He scanned the whole house. As Natalia was sitting in the hallway with her kids, she heard a gunshot and screamed.

"Eric!"

Then Natalia heard someone coming in thru the front door. She began crying, causing Emma and Tony to start screaming and crying. As the footsteps got closer, she got silent. So did Emma and Tony. When Natalia saw who was standing there, her heart stopped.


	3. Chapter 3

"Eric!" she screamed.

"Natalia, he got away." He said as she hugged him. He groaned. "He clipped me, Natalia." He said. She then noticed that he was cradling his left arm.

"Oh, no!" she screamed. "I'm going to go call 911. Emma, Tony, stay with Eri—Daddy." She told them as she ran into the kitchen to call the ambulance.

"Natalia, I don't need an ambulance…" he said, suddenly gasping for air.

"Eric, you've lost too much blood." She yelled into the hallway after telling the 911 operator where she lived. "Let's take your shirt off." She said, making Eric laugh.

"It's been too long since I heard you tell me that, Natalia." He said smiling at her. He then grimaced when she pulled his shirt around his injured arm.

"Mommy, what's wrong with daddy?" Emma asked, standing next to her mother.

"Daddy got hurt, sweetie." Eric told her.

"Daddy, you're not gonna die, is you?"

"Tony, daddy is staying with you guys forever." Eric told his son, who was standing next to his sister.

"You promise?" Emma asked him, looking into her father's eyes that were exactly like hers.

"I promise, guys. But daddy needs to concentrate on breathing, ok?"

"Ok, daddy." They said.

Apparently the ambulance was only a few blocks away from Natalia's house, so they got there within a minute. On the way to the hospital, she called Calliegh.

"Duquesne."

"Hi, Calliegh. Can you come to the hospital to watch my kids? They'll behave, I promise. I just need to be able to see Eric before them."

"Whoa, Natalia. Why is Eric at the hospital?"

"He got shot trying to find my stalker, but I'll explain more when you get here." Then Natalia hung up. Calliegh was extremely confused on the other line, but still got into her hummer and drove to the hospital.

When she arrived, Natalia was pacing in the waiting room and her two kids were mocking her and pacing next to her.

"Natalia." She said as she put a hand on Natalia's shoulder, causing her to jump. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She apologized.

"It's ok. These guys are…um, well…these guys are my children." Natalia stuttered, pointing to where the children had sat down on two chairs. "Emilia Marisol and Antonio Rico Delko." The two kids' heads snapped up at hearing their full names and saw their mother motioning them to go near her. "Emma, Tony, this is Calliegh. She's mommy and daddy's friend, and she's going to watch you while mommy goes and sees daddy, ok?"

"Ok mommy." They said in unison as they went back to sit down and Natalia went in search of Eric's room.

"So," Calliegh asked the two-year-olds. "How old are you guys?"

"Two and a half." Emma said.

"I forgot your name, Miss." Tony told her as he climbed into her lap.

"Calliegh."

"Kay—cah—I can't say it." Emma pouted.

"How about you guys just call me Aunt C?" she said, trying not to laugh at Tony's apparent attempt to say her name.

"Ok, Aunt C." Tony said, smiling.

Meanwhile Natalia had finally convinced the nurses to tell her where Eric was roomed. When she got there, she saw him sleeping with a sling on his left arm. She walked over to his bed, sitting on the chair and started to stroke his hair.

"I'm so sorry, Eric." She began. "You shouldn't have gone after Nathan." She started to cry. "I was just so scared, he managed to follow me here all the way from Sacramento, Eric. I don't even know what he looks like, so he could be walking outside my house and I wouldn't know it was him…" she then broke down and put her head onto the sheets next to his sleeping figure.

"You won't have to worry about that. You're living with me until he's caught." Came a voice. Natalia's head snapped up to see Eric sitting there.

"What?" she asked him.

"You and the twins are staying with me until Nathan is behind bars." He said angrily. "And you don't have to be sorry. I'm able to go home tonight."

"Oh." Natalia said, slightly embarrassed that she had cried when she thought that Eric was asleep. "I'll go get the kids. They'll want to see you." At seeing Eric's worried face, she added on the way out, "They're with Calliegh, Eric."

When Natalia walked into the waiting room, she couldn't help but laugh. Calliegh and the twins were sleeping spread out on three chairs.

"Calliegh." She whispered as she softly shook her friend.

"What?" Calliegh snapped awake, almost throwing Emma across the waiting room in the process.

"Calliegh, I'm taking the kids now. You can go home if you want."

"I think I'll come see Eric." She said as she sat up and handed a sleepy Emma to Natalia and held Tony.

"Daddy!" Eric heard from the doorway, and saw Natalia and Calliegh holding Emma and Tony. They then sat them on the floor, and the twins ran over to their father.

"Hi, guys." He said, smiling.

"Daddy! Aunt C bought us skittles!" Emma squealed. Eric, assuming Calliegh was 'Aunt C', looked over to the two women, who in turn shrugged.

"How're you doing, Eric?" Calliegh said as she picked Emma up off of the floor and sat her on her hip.

"I'm fine. I'll be better when I can go home." He said as Tony climbed on the bed, careful of his dad's hurt arm.

"Calliegh, you sure seem good with kids." Natalia said. Calliegh looked at Eric, who smiled.

"You didn't tell her?" Calliegh said laughing.

"Um…no?" Eric said still smiling.

"Tell me what?" Natalia asked, confused.

"Well, I have children too, Natalia." Calliegh then began to explain when she noticed Natalia's confused face. "After you left, I met a homicide investigator on the job. Two months later we got married, and I kept my last name to avoid confusion at the lab. We tried to conceive multiple times, and after five tries, I took a drug that helped women conceive. However, this drug also has a side affect of multiple births. Well, I ended up having quadruplets." Natalia's jaw dropped.

"Eric!" she screamed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Natalia, you just came back this morning." He said laughing.

"Is there anything else that I should know?" Natalia asked them, who looked at each other and nodded.

"Ryan and Valera are married and have two kids. Lainey is two and Tyler is six months old." Calliegh said.

"Also Horatio married again, to a woman with two teenage girls. Riley is thirteen years old and Bailey is what, seventeen now?" Eric asked Calliegh for confirmation, who nodded. "Anyway, they are the lab babysitters." He finished, smiling.

"Ok, now that I'm all caught up, Calliegh, what are your kids' names?" she squealed. "How old are they?"

"They just turned two years old a month ago. I have three boys and a girl. Adam, Daniel, Jake, and Lilian." Calliegh said. "I just noticed something. We have seven two year olds at the lab." She fake shuddered.

"Lab picnics should be a blast!" Eric joked. Everyone laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

"Daddy, can I go play with Adam, Danny, and Jake?" Tony asked his father. They were at the lab summer picnic, and Tony had just noticed that his best friends had arrived. The twins were now five years old, along with Calliegh's children and Ryan's daughter Lainey.

"Sure." Eric said, keeping an eye on Tony. Nathan still hadn't been caught, which was making Eric more and more nervous about letting the twins out of his sight.

"Daddy, Lily's here!" Emma squealed from the spot in her father's lap. She had become the daddy's girl.

"Do you want to go play with her?" Eric asked his daughter.

"Yeah, Uncle Eric." Lainey said from where she was sitting next to Emma on Eric's lap. The three girls always loved Eric, and sat on his lap whenever they got a chance. "We'll be right back." Then Emma and Lainey ran over to greet Lily.

"Hey, Eric." Calliegh said as she sat next to him. 

"Hey, Calliegh." He replied, still keeping an eye on his kids.

"You know, Eric. Nathan hasn't contacted you or Natalia in two years. I think that he gave up." Calliegh said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Or that's what he wants us to think." Eric said roughly, causing Calliegh to pull her hand away. "Hey, I'm sorry." He told her, smiling.

"It's ok."

Then Lainey, Emma, and Lily ran up and jumped onto Eric's lap.

"Hey, Uncle Eric."

"Hello, Lily." Eric said.

"Are you three sitting with your favorite man?" Natalia said as she walked up behind her husband. Only three months after Natalia had come back, she and Eric had gotten married.

"Yup." They all answered in unison.

"Mommy?" Emma asked.

"What, sweetie?" Natalia said as she sat on the other side of Eric and Emma climbed onto her lap.

"Didn't daddy say that if we ever saw that bad man again to tell you?" Natalia stiffened up, remembering when Nathan had confronted her children two months ago. She and Eric had decided not to tell anyone about it.

_Begin Flashback_

_"Eric, I have to go to the bathroom. Watch the twins." Natalia said as she walked in the direction of the port-a-potty across the playground. _

_"Always, Natalia." He yelled after her. He then looked around for Emma and Tony, but couldn't see them. Assuming that since his children were quite ambitious, he figured that they were behind the slide or somewhere that he couldn't see them. _

_"Emilia, Antonio. How are you, my dears?" Emma and Tony heard a voice behind where they were hiding next to the slide. _

_"We're not supposed to talk to strangers." Tony said as he stepped in front of his sister. Even though they were only five, Tony always protected Emma. _

_"I'm not a stranger, don't you remember me? I'm your daddy." Nathan said, trying to get closer to the children. _

_"Nuh-uh!" Emma yelled. "Eric Delko is our daddy!" Eric heard his daughter yell. He got up and began to look for his children. He cursed himself for choosing this large playground. _

_"Emma, Tony!" Eric yelled. _

_"Kids, you're supposed to come with me. Your mommy said to." Nathan said, moving dangerously close to Tony. _

_"We're not supposed to go with strangers!" Tony yelled. He then stomped on Nathan's foot as hard as he could, which wasn't very hard, and grabbed his sister's hand. "Come on, Emma!" then he dragged her past Nathan and began to scream. "Daddy!" _

_"Tony?" Eric said as he turned around to see his children running at him. He bent down and picked them up. _

_"Daddy, there was a man who said that he was our daddy, and he wanted us to go with him, but Tony 'tected me." Emma told her father as she hugged him. Eric looked to where his children had ran from and saw Nathan standing there. Eric quickly set his children down and pulled out his gun. When he looked up, Nathan was gone. He reholstered his gun and picked up Emma and Tony and went to find Natalia. _

_"Kids, if you _ever_ see that man again, tell mommy or daddy, ok? Actually, tell any grown-up." Eric said as he noticed Natalia waiting where they had been sitting. _

"Mommy?" Emma's voice brought Natalia back into reality.

"Yes, daddy and I did, why?" Natalia said as she and Eric listened intently to their daughter.

"Because he's over there carrying Tony." Emma said, pointing her finger to where there was indeed a man holding Tony. When Natalia looked closer, she saw that is looked as if Tony was sleeping. Her head snapped to Eric, who had shooed the girls off of his lap and had stood up.

"Let's end this." He said as he pulled out his gun and ran towards Nathan and his son.


End file.
